Monday, February 28, 2011

Sometimes the simplest products turn out to become your favorites, and that is the case with these reusable microfleece liners from Earthy Crunchy Mama. With this product, shop owner Jenn has come up with a simple design that really works. When she sent these to me in the mail this month, her timing was impeccable as it coincided with me trying and reviewing several bamboo diapers from other companies. I found that no matter what I did with the bamboo dipes, they just weren't wicking away from Baby's bum like I had hoped, and we were starting to get a little redness and rash each time. Here enters the Earthy Crunchy Mama liners! These liners are ultra thin and ultra soft, and they create the perfect stay-dry layer with no effort at all!

Laid over top of a diaper's already existing layer, moisture is sucked down into the layers below while this liner stays oh-so-dry next to Baby's skin! I have used it with both pocket diapers and all-in-ones so far, and have had terrific stay-dry results both times. As this is only a $5.00 product (for 10 liners--that makes them only 50 cents each!), I am really impressed.

Of course, the other practical use for these liners is creating a barrier layer between diaper cream and your diapers themselves. Diaper cream's sole purpose is to act as a repellant; cream sits on baby's skin and opposes all the moisture and mess that can build up inside of a diaper, thus helping to prevent rash. However, most diaper creams are a no-no with cloth diapers (most dipes will tell you that right on their tags from the manufacturer). Of course, the reason for this is that the cream transfers off of baby's skin and onto your diaper. Even the most vigorous washing cycle cannot ever fully remove the repelling qualities of the cream as the ingredients are thick and sticky, as you know. Once this build-up lands on your diapers, they will no longer absorb as they used to, and you can start to get leaking problems, or even more of the diaper rashes you were trying to prevent in the first place.

That being said, we all know that there are times we have to use rash cream. When Baby is getting red or bumpy, we're not going to forgo the cream just to save our cloth. Some of us have ugly or less-favorite diapers that the kiddos wear just for rash time. However, if you're like me and have just invested in a brand new stash, I had no idea what to do when I needed to use the cream. Now, once again, these liners have become the perfect solution. Simply lay one of these liners in overtop of your diaper, making sure that the inner lining of the dipe is fully covered wherever you anticipate the cream might hit and spread. These provided pretty good coverage in all my standard diapers, leaving only a thin strip of uncovered inner lining on the sides (however, you wouldn't want it too wide either, as it could bunch up near the leg elastic and cause leaks). This layer definitely did its job and kept all the cream off my diaper.

One critical thing to note, however, is that if you've used this liner with cream, DO NOT wash it right away with your diaper laundry! The cream can float off the liner and still deposit itself onto your nice diaper laundry in the washer (or dryer). You can either hand strip them first by rubbing a little mild dish soap (ie Dawn) into them and then adding them to the diaper laundry, or, you can just do what I did and wash them with your regular baby laundry (blankets, etc). I never had a really messy diaper with these and wasn't worried about this method.

I did find that with my method (straight into the baby laundry), however, the cream never fully was removed from these liners in the wash (and it didn't help that I through them in the dryer right after, without checking them, so it got kind of baked on). So, I have a couple of these that I keep solely for cream, and then the others I use as a stay-dry layer, if that makes sense. What I love best is even if one of them eventually becomes too gummed up with cream to keep washing and reusing it, it was only 50 cents and could easily be replaced if need be. That being said, I'll also buy a little Dawn to keep it on hand for more heavy-duty de-creaming ;)

Overall I think this is one of the best, most inexpensive, "must have" cloth diapering tools I've come across to date! In the near future, you can expect to see an expansion of this product line with new colors and sizes of liners coming soon (orange, purple & royal blue; and newborn, infant, and toddler).

Lastly, I love supporting the good people from this shop. Jenn, owner and operator of Earthy Crunchy Mama is a real earthy, crunchy mama herself. As her online store is just brand new this past year and is already getting ready for an expansion, I am very excited to see what comes next for her! Already, her shop carries everything that a modern mom drools over--reusable snack sacs, nursing tops, swaddling blankets, eco-friendly kitchen & laundry gear, and so much more. With video reviews and a site redesign on her near horizons, this will be a very exciting year for her shop. Read more about Jenn and her shop in my Facebook February Feature!

BUY IT:
Head over to Earthy Crunchy Mama to purchase your own set of 10 microfleece reusable liners for only $5! (purchases can be shipped within the United States only at this time)

WIN IT:Earthy Crunchy Mama is generously offering one lucky reader a set of 10 of their very own microfleece reusable liners!

GIVEAWAY ENDS 3/9/11 at 11:59 PM MST
OPEN TO THE USA & CANADA
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Final details: I received no financial compensation for this review or giveaway, though I did receive the sample item free of charge. All opinions shared are my own, and I was not persuaded to share anything other than my own thoughts. This giveaway will end on March 9, 2011 at 11:59pm MST and is open to residents of Canada and the United States only. Winner will be chosen randomly using random.org’s services. The winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to reply before a new winner is chosen. The prize will be supplied and mailed out to the winner by the sponsor of this giveaway.

I love that she has nursing tops too! I'm totally in the market for some. I wouldn't mind trying the Chic Crossover Top Short Sleeve in black. :) Or one of the long sleeve ones when it gets colder if I'm hopefully still nursing.

About Me

Hi there! My name is April and I'm a cloth diaper addict! As the owner of Cloth Diaper Contests, I am passionate about sharing my experiences with cloth diapers, and giving you the best deals! Learn more about me.